The paper outlines questions of functions, typology and origin of the comments of translators as integral part of cultural translation. This study is based on the English translation of the Yakut heroic epic olonkho “Nurgun Botur the Swift” written by P. A. Oyunsky. The author considers the terms ‘realia’, ‘lacuna’, ‘ethnic colour’, and ‘non-equivalent vocabulary’ to be the principal sources of translation comments. The translation comment is a method to transfer and save information, ethnic identity and emotional and expressive functions of the form. Translator not only gives his version of the source text, but also often reconstructs its specific cultural identity. The paper overviews previous publications of the Yakut epic and its translations into Russian and English. The material’s singularity and lack of a Yakut-English translation tradition make this study relevant. The case of olonkho can teach us something about the remit of cultural translation. In my research, I defined various practical methods from the English translation of olonkho, including intratextual comments, footnotes, endnotes, and graphical tools of exoticism highlighting.